Thursday, February 16, 2012

Timbuktu?

One of my
earliest memories of having an interest in the world beyond my neighborhood is
of playing the “Capitals” game. As in, “What’s the capital of …….?” After years of
training with the help of the linoleum-esque spill-proof placemats on our kitchen
table, I got to be fairly knowledgeable about these kinds of things. Even so,
there were always a few places that, as kids, we never really associated with a
real geographic location on the planet. In fact, we tended to use these names to
refer to places that were as far away as you could imagine, and then some. Thus,
in our imaginations, the only place that was more distant than China—which was actually
only as day’s worth of digging away—was Timbuktu.

The mysterious Timbuktu, center of several deceased empires, was probably my favorite pseudo-imaginary
place, all the way up until high school. At that more mature age, my buddy, Joey
T., introduced me to the idea of Burkina Faso, and its superbly-named capital,
Oagadougou—beat that.

Ironically,
here I am decades later, closer to Timbuktu than I ever imagined myself being.
After almost three weeks on pins and needles, I received an invitation from Peace Corps to
transfer to Mali to complete my
service there. Wow. Now, I am realizing that the only thing
harder than waiting for this information is figuring what to do with it.

I am
certainly not the only one facing this decision right now. All of the 25
first-year Cape Verde volunteers in my cohort have received similar invitations
to transfer—either to Mali, Benin,
or Moçambique. The past few weeks
have seen a flurry of back-and-forth emails and Facebook conversations, as
volunteers seek to pick each other's brains, support one another, and just plain
vent. Ultimately, we all know that it will be a personal decision for each of
us, regardless of what the common knowledge, misinformation, or apprehensions
may be.

I have
until the end of this month to make my decision: to transfer or not to
transfer, that is the question. If I chose not
to accept the invitation to Mali, I would complete my first year of service
here in Cape Verde. My official status would then be listed as “Interrupted
Service,” which the Peace Corps Volunteer Handbook describes as a form of
“Early Termination initiated by Peace Corps staff members, Host Country or
local authorities who decide that a trainee or Volunteer should not remain in
Peace Corps service due to reasons beyond his or her control,” (p. 73). In some
ways it’s kind of like an honorable discharge. If I took this route, I’m pretty sure that I would end up staying
in Cape Verde for another year to continue my volunteer work with the Centro da Juventude, while hopefully landing a job that would allow
me to pay my relatively modest living expenses. Also, I would still be eligible for the normal benefits of being a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, including one-year of non-competitive eligibility status if I were to apply for a federal government job.

The timing
of this decision is pretty… well… interesting
for me. For one, Carnavalis just
around the corner (or already here, depending on when you are reading this
post). It will be nice to have something to take my mind off the looming
question for a few days. Plus, my body has almost recovered from W.A.I.S.T., so I think I’m ready. Then,
after the festivities wrap up, I will be blessed with a cross-Atlantic visit
from Lita and the Notorious D.A.D. Over the years, my dad has served me well in
many capacities, including, teacher, financier, judge, jury, advocate, warden (never executioner), tour guide, and doubles partner.* Nowadays, he is more of a friend,
confidant and general life consultant. It will be nice to have him close by in
the days leading up to, and following, the deadline for making one of the
biggest decisions of my life…** In truth,
I’m not really looking for advice right now. Like I said before, the decision
has to be mine. Regardless, it is helpful to bounce ideas off my peoples, be they fellow volunteers or family and friends spread across the globe.

On that front, you guys have continued to be amazing, with supportive emails
and more inspirational art therapy. Here’s the latest in our series of “Live
From Tomorrow Haikus,” courtesy of my folks, Molly.

keep on keepin' on

enjoy all the adventures

the best ain't easy

Before I
sign off, I thought it would be interesting to share with you a glimpse into my
thought process as I start to tackle this decision. So, I present to you two
more short lists:

3 Reasons Why I Should Stay in Cape Verde

-Personal Commitment – Peace Corps aside, I feel like I
made a personal commitment to the organization(s) that I work with in Cape Verde and the community
where I live. The biggest reason for me to stay would be to see that commitment
through to the end.

-Not Moving - I hate, hate, hate, moving.
Seriously, it is one my least favorite things in the world.

-Professional Commitment – The last thing I need on my
resume is another thing that lasted for a year or so. I was really looking
forward to being able to say that I worked for ______________ for more than two
years. Right now, that would mean transferring to Mali to complete my service
there.

-The Challenge – If you know me, then you know that
this is one of the things that make me tick on the most fundamental level.
While my time in Cape Verde has brought its fair share of challenges, transferring
to Mali would likely be a whole new level of “damn this is hard.” My French
skills are negligible—besides, whatever language I would learn (Bambara?) has absolutely no connection
to French, or any other language that I speak. Now that’s what I’m talkin´
´bout. On top of that, I’ve never lived in a country that is landlocked,
predominantly Muslim, etc., etc., etc.

Notice how I
chose to keep these lists in the affirmative? In other words, I didn’t share my
list of reasons why I should not do "x, y, z." But
believe me: that list exists in my head, and as my roommate would say, "it tain´t purty." Without being a
complete Debbie Downer, I do want to share one serious concern that will be a
big influence on my decision. My big question is, “What if they decide to shut
down the program in Mali, too?” Whether you call them insignificant skirmishes,
isolated incidents, or a full-fledged rebellion, the reality is that there is
some degree of instability in the country. Granted, the media has a tendency to exaggerate and sensationalize
some of the stories coming out of Africa while ignoring others. “Besides,” you might
be thinking, “Peace Corps wouldn’t transfer you to a country if they were going
to shut down that program.” Unfortunately, in light of my current circumstances, I have trouble buying into the logic of that
argument. Even as we speak, there are areas in Mali that are “off-limits” to
the Peace Corps Volunteers that are already stationed in that country.
Ironically, I'm pretty sure that one of those areas is the ever-elusive city of Timbuktu. So, maybe
I’m not as close as I thought.

One thing
is for sure: I won’t be making any final decisions in the next few days. I’ve
got other fish to fry right now. I just bought a couple packs of face paint
yesterday and the biggest question on my mind is whether to go with the simple
black-and-white Dead Presidents
look, or something more extravagant. When the dust settles, I will face the
music and make the call. Who knows, maybe I will choose “none of the above.”
Until then, I'll just be following my friend Yang's haiku-advice...

Pretty Mindelo
You won't be there for ever
Party it up NOW!!!

Pura Vida,

Drew

* We are still undefeated after dominating the non-competitive division of the Father/Son tournament at the San Francisco Tennis Club, circa 1995.

* *… thus
far.

*** It’s nice here. “Sabi” (pronounced “sahb” in
the North or “sah-bee” in the South) is another one of those wordsthat is much bigger than its definition. It
could mean nice, good, tasty, fun,all-gravy, or pretty much anything positive.UPDATE: Peace Corps suspended its Volunteer Activities in Mali on April 9, 2012. Click here to read the official press release.

1 comment:

That noncompetiive eligibility is a golden ticket of sorts. I wouldn't want to lose that. Plus, this way you get to see more of Africa, do things you wouldn't have done, and complete your service. Seems like a win-win. You can always go back to Cape Verde when you're done.